How to Tame a Cat (ManxMan)

Chapter Thirty: Forced Together - Part One

I walk towards the end of the hall with haste, but Ryland keeps up easily, making me just look foolish. In fact, he beats me to the door by the smallest of seconds and already is unlocking it before I can pull my card out of its paper sleeve. I grumble softly when it beeps, the light turning green to inform us that the lock is no longer engaged.

The fresh smell that all good hotel rooms have is the first thing to greet us as we enter the room, and I find myself unable to stay tense. There is something about stepping into a clean hotel room after a long drive that does the mind good. It helps that the white and tan bed looks inviting and there is a view of the city and mountains just beyond it.

The empty carpeted area around the doorway leads to both the bathroom and the kitchen. Like normal hotel rooms, there are cabinets and counters lining the left side of the room, decorated with kitchen appliances. The bathroom is on the right and has a fancy shower with dark green tiles and a sink that looks deceptively like wood, but is actually marble.

I slip off my shoes and drop my bag by the door, hissing in pleasure at the feeling of the brown carpet beneath my feet. Neither of us have a carpet at our residences, so it is a nice change to have something soft under my feet that is not cold or hard. I glance at the desk pushed against the left wall, opposite of the bed, but when I find nothing but the typical hotel book, I try to figure out whether I want to drop onto the orange-tan lounge couch-chair-thing or the large bed that takes up half of the main part of the room. There is a TV above the desk, but I doubt I will have much time to use it while on this trip.

Deciding on the bed, I fall onto it, burying my face in the sheets. I scoot up until I am hugging one of the pillows and roll over onto my back, staring up at the tan ceiling. The sound of another duffel bag hitting the floor is muffled by the carpet and the bed makes a small sound of protest as Ryland jumps over me to land on the other side of the comforter.

"What time are we supposed to be at the meeting?" He asks, rolling onto his side to face me. I, however, remain on my back, not sure I want to be face-to-face with him right now.

I do turn away from him to glance at the clock, though. Six-forty-three. "From what the email said, everyone should be here by seven-thirty, but the meeting doesn't start until eight, which gives us time to either take a long nap or find some place to eat dinner. Your choice."

Ryland pauses to consider the options for a moment, which is why it is very inconvenient that my stomach chooses to growl at the exact moment the room is perfectly silent. The lion smiles, finally losing the furrow in his brow, "Your stomach has spoken."

"Shut up," I grumble, thoroughly embarrassed, which only makes his smile grow into a grin. He leans over to kiss me, but I roll out of bed and stumble a few steps as I try to regain my balance. "I, uh, need to use the bathroom before we go."

My feet carry me towards the bathroom, despite my head telling me to go back and kiss him. However, Ryland asks me something that makes me stop in the bathroom doorway, "Cade...did you reach a conclusion?"

"No," I answer, before closing the door to end the conversation. While we could easily converse through the door, anyone with even an ounce of manners would not listen to someone in the bathroom. Maybe if they were human and there was shouting involved to make up for the lack of hearing, but for someone with incredible hearing, it would be disrespectful.

In all honesty, I was so caught up in avoiding Ryland that I never did come to a decision. If I had, it would be ten times easier to ignore the call of the mating frenzy. I do know what I want, and that is to not lose this bet and end up living in Italy with Ryland, to not have to go through a life-changing alteration. However, the part of me that does not care about all that and just wants Ryland is still messing with my decisions, making it hard to officially choose. Even though I know what the outcome will be – Ryland returning to Italy without me – making the official decision is kind of hard. Especially when I just want to let him kiss me.